1. Field
The present application relates to an apparatus for storing cable. More particularly, the present application relates to an apparatus for storing slack from fiber optic cable on top of a cabinet and provides for routing of cable to any of at least four corners of an equipment cabinet.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Fiber optic cable is a preferred transmission medium for most data and voice communications. A few reasons why fiber is preferred include its small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and bandwidth. Unfortunately, fiber optic cable is physically less robust than copper-based cable. Thus, fiber optic cable requires greater care when routing the fiber between various pieces of equipment, within equipment cabinets in a communications equipment room, or elsewhere.
A primary concern when working with fiber optic cable is maintaining a minimum bend radius as the cable is routed. Bending the fiber optic cable too much risks damaging the fiber optic cable, and may also adversely affect the optical characteristics of the cable. Thus, improper bending may degrade the optical signal propagating through a fiber optic cable, which could result in degradation to the voice or data represented by the optical signal.
Fiber optic cable routing usually requires routing between adjacent pieces of equipment and between different sides, including the front and back, of the equipment depending on the location where the cable must be connected to the equipment. In a communications room, fiber optic cable may be routed into the room and to a specific piece of equipment. Alternatively, fiber optic cable may be routed between and among various pieces of equipment in the room. It is not uncommon for fiber optic cable to be routed between adjacently positioned pieces of communications equipment and between the front and back of a piece of equipment, depending on where the connections need to be made.
It is also often necessary to splice already-installed fiber optic cable to provide for connection to a different end-point. Splices typically require removal of a section of the fiber optic cable, causing the length of the cable to change (i.e., shorten). Since fiber optic cable is typically installed with a certain amount of slack in the fiber optic cable, splicing changes the amount of slack that must be accommodated. Following a splice it thus becomes necessary to accommodate a different length of fiber optic cable.
Such a problem is particularly evident when routing fiber optic cable in an equipment cabinet. In the cabinet, routing fiber optic cable to different sections or surfaces of the cabinet, while maintaining the minimum bend radius to assure proper signal propagation, is often difficult and in some instances may not even be possible.
For example, a communications room may house servers, routers, and switches with fiber optic cable entering the location via troughs that drop into a tray attached to the top or upper portion of an equipment cabinet. The troughs are typically located over the front of one or more equipment cabinets and the troughs are made of extruded plastic, with drops constructed of corrugated tubing leading down into the equipment cabinet. The problem arises when the fiber optic cable needs to be attached to ports located in the back of equipment cabinets because the fiber optic cable must only be bent within the bend radius and the excess must be properly stored. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a fiber optic cable routing and storage device that accommodates fiber optic cable slack and allows for the routing of the fiber optic cable to all sides of an equipment cabinet, while ensuring the minimum bend radius for the fiber optic cable between and among various pieces of communication equipment, including adjacently positioned equipment and multiple sides of a piece of equipment, such as the front and back of the equipment cabinet.